CALIFORNIA, iNews.id – Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) NASA easily achieve its goal. The space agency has revealed that their spacecraft discovered more than 2,200 potential planets since starting its mission in 2018.
Hundreds of them are smaller planets. In fact, some of them could include rocky worlds that are more Earth-like, though not necessarily habitable.
TESS was originally expected to discover 1,600 planets in its first two years. Some discoveries are decidedly unusual. The rocky planet TOI-700 d is only 100 light years away, as quoted from Slash Gears, Monday (29/3/2021).
LHS 3844b is a super hot Earth with a very close 11 hour orbit. TOI 1690b is a rare victim of a red giant star that engulfs a planet in its orbit.
Meanwhile TOI 849b appears to be a gas giant that either lost its atmosphere or never owned it at all. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that every finding will be scrutinized.
So far only 120 planets have been confirmed. NASA is betting on future spacecraft such as the James Webb Space Telescope to study potential planets in greater detail.
Even so, the planet’s huge volume has shown a lot about its diversity and what it means for the cosmos at large.
Editor: Dini Listiyani
